K-12 Education in Hawaii

The State Department of Education (DOE) reaches nearly all of the public schools through either public broadcasting, cable access, or HITS. It transmits many hours of live programming each week including direct-student instruction and several hours of teacher in-service programs from the Department of Education's studios ITV facilities on the islands of Maui and Oahu. The DOE offers a variety of classes such as Advanced Placement Calculus, which provides access to students in schools without a qualified calculus teacher, and KidScience-winner of the US Distance Learning Association's 1993 award-which provides over 12,000 students and their teachers with hands-on science experience with a master teacher.

During the Spring of 1996 the Department of Education's Office of Information and Telecommunitions Services (OITS) will be implementing a major initiative known as the Electronic School. The Electronic School will provide direct services to students, teachers and administrators through the use of technology and the State's telecommunication infrastructure. The Electronic School's two pilot classes (Telecommunications and Advanced Guidance) are designed for secondary students to view at home in the late afternoon or early evening hours. Each class is offered for 1/2 credit (elective).

Recently the DOE adopted rules relating to the use and distribution of the Internet into its classrooms. The regulations and the methods of connections for the schools can be found in the Internet Literacy Kit adopted by the Department of Education.

Other K-12 Education Sites of Interest...

The DOE's Office of Information and Telecommunitions Services (OITS) publishes a menthly newsletter entitled Technology In Touch feel free to check it out.

In addition to Hawaii's Department of Education site, a listing of other states with Education Sites is available at the State Education Site.